Stock Market Today: S&P 500, Nasdaq 100, Dow Jones Futures Gains as Iran Prolongs US Talks Ahead of Midterms

U.S. stock futures were higher on Wednesday, as the Dow Jones, S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 indices rose, following Tuesday’s mixed close.

Reuters reported that Iran is prolonging negotiations with the U.S. to undermine President Donald Trump ahead of the Nov. 3 midterm elections, while preparing for the possibility of renewed American and Israeli military strikes. Iran’s Security Chief Mohsen Rezaee said on X that “Not a single gram of enriched uranium will be removed from Iran” and added, “There will be no negotiations until the United States takes steps to build trust.”

Reuters also reported that Iran told Pakistan’s army chief there would be no talks with Washington until Tehran’s demands were met, including ending a U.S. blockade on its ports, lifting sanctions on its oil exports and ending hostilities on all regional fronts.

Wednesday is a massive day for third-quarter earnings, headlined by Magnificent 7 members Meta Platforms Inc. (NASDAQ:META) and Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA). The heavy docket also includes Lam Research Corp. (NASDAQ:LRCX), Texas Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:TXN), and IBM Corp. (NYSE:IBM).

Meanwhile, the 10-year Treasury bond yielded 5.12%, and the 2-year Treasury bond yielded 4.79% at last check. The CME Group’s FedWatch tool projections show markets pricing in an 85.1% likelihood of the Federal Reserve keeping interest rates unchanged after its October meeting.

The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSE: SPY) and Invesco QQQ Trust ETF (NASDAQ: QQQ), which track the S&P 500 index and Nasdaq 100 index, respectively, were higher in premarket trading on Wednesday. The SPY was up 0.21% at $770.67, while the QQQ advanced 0.58% to $721.77.